Interview With Rebecca Chisam

Hi! I'm popping in today to share an interview I had recently with Rebecca Chisam, who I met through the Young Writer's Workshop. I've enjoyed chatting with her and getting to know her over the past couple months, and it was so neat to be able to ask her some questions and hear her answers and opinions. So now I'm sharing them with you!
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Hi, Rebecca! I’m so, so excited to have you on my blog. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you through the Young Writer’s Workshop, and I’m honored to get to introduce you to my readers as well. 

First off–you’ve published books! I’d love to know more about Guardians of the Neighborhood. What are they about?

Yes! Guardians of the Neighborhood is a middle grade series about stray cats and unlikely friendships. The description for the first book is:

Fuzby is one of many stray cats who live in the Neighborhood, but she's far from neighborly. Unfortunately for the creatures around her, that's just how she likes it. Nothing brings this scrappy cat more joy than being number one! But when a mysterious short cat suddenly appears and threatens her dominance, Fuzby must team up with a young kitten named Charlie and flee from her home. Together they face all sorts of challenges, fish, schools, and even water! But Fuzby soon realizes that her biggest challenge…

…is dealing with herself.

How did these books come about? What inspired you to write Guardians of the Neighborhood? 

Guardians was inspired by real neighborhood cats! Fuzby, Charlie, and a variety of other characters are at least loosely based on actual cat friends of mine. :) I originally just wanted to write something that captured what I loved about the challenges and triumphs of suburban kitties, and it snowballed from there into an actual series!

I haven’t had a lot of personal experience with the animal fantasy genre yet, so what do you love about the genre? 

Well, my undignified answer would be: I love reading about animals doing stuff. ;)

And my more dignified answer would be: I love that animal fantasy can tackle profound, real life topics under the guise of natural animal conflicts. I also love how art-based the animal fantasy community is, and how character design and visual storytelling are a natural extension of writing for many fandoms in the genre. 

Correct me if I’m wrong, but it appears that you self-published/indie-published these stories, which is also something I’ve never done. What are some challenges you’ve faced when it comes to self-publishing? Also, what do you like about the self-publishing process? 

Yes I did! A few challenges that come to mind are making time to market (life is busy sometimes ;) and weirdly, getting the spine of the book to be the right size? That was the most frustrating thing when I was first starting out, I don’t know why. 😂 

Some things I like about the self-publishing process is that at least with Amazon KDP, formatting is not too difficult, and that local bookstores can buy your book! (Not that they couldn’t for traditional publishing. But it’s still very fun. ;)

What stories shaped you when you were younger? 

I would say, Black Beauty, Winnie the Pooh, White Fang, and The Cat Pack shaped me and my writing when I was younger. :)

What are some of your favorite books and what do you love about them? 

My favorite series is Warriors and I love that the cats’ adventures span generations, and there are so many different stories within a story. I also love The Mysterious Benedict Society and A Series of Unfortunate Events series for their quirky writing style and memorable characters. 

I also like Ride On, The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place, and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz because they are very fun and comforting. 

What are some of your favorite movies and TV shows and what do you love about them? 

My favorite movies are Wicked, Toy Story 3, and the Spider-Verse movies. 

Some of the reasons I love Wicked are because I love the MC Elphaba and turning classic stories on their head. Toy Story 3 has been a favorite for a long time, and I think the themes of growing up and letting go are done very well, and the Spider-Verse movies are visually stunning and wonderfully written.

My favorite TV shows are Wednesday, because of the excellent writing and characters, and A Series of Unfortunate Events, because it’s twistedly funny.

What do you love to see in stories? What do you wish you could find more of? 

I always enjoy stories centered around friendship rather than romance, and wish there were more like this, especially in YA. In fact, I’ve joked that if I had a nickel for every YA book without romance being at least a subplot… I’d have no nickels. 💀 

In my current WIP, How To Not Die as Accidental Chipmunks, (yes, it's crazy as it sounds) I’m working to remedy this a bit, by having the “love story” actually be a developing friendship between two girls. 

What do you enjoy when you’re not writing? 

Riding horses and showing goats, drawing and animating, and vibing with cats. :)

If readers want to connect with you, what is the best way for them to do that? 

You can visit my website at www.guardiansoftheneighborhood.com or my Amazon page to read Guardians of the Neighborhood! 

And if you agree with my tastes in fiction, my email list also has short movie reviews every month! :)

Thank you so much for taking the time to chat and connect with us, Rebecca! Is there anything else you’d like readers to know? 

Thanks so much for having me! 🐈🐿